Method and apparatus for feeding



April 9, 1935. A. D EVANS 1,996,913

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING Filed D80. 15, 1955 INVENTOR Patented Apr. 9, 1935 UNITED STATES METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FEEDING Archibald D. Evans, Warren,

The Wean Engineering Company,

Ohio, assignor to Incorporated,

Warren, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application December 15, 1933, Serial No. 702,539

9 Claims.

My invention relates to the control of the movement of metal to be rolled to and through rolling mills and, in particular, to guides for tilting tables used in connection with conventional sheet mills, and to a method of feeding sheet bars to the mill thereby.

According to the conventional method of making sheets, sheet bars are first rolled singly, a pair of bars being put through the mill successively to form two breakdowns. These are then matched to form a pack. The two bars of a pair are withdrawn substantially simultaneously from a heating furnace and if manually handled, may even be seized with a single pair of tongs. Since the bars are rolled successively, they must be spaced apart on the feeding table before moving to the mill. Even if the bars are delivered successively to the table by a conveyor from the furnace, they will not be properly spaced for rolling. The necessity for spacing the bars for successive passage through the mill will be obvious from a consideration of the effect of entering the leading edge of the second bar before the top mill roll has dropped after the passage of the first bar. This would result in injuriously marking the rolls and the product.

Feeding tables for supplying heated sheet bars to roughing mills for rolling breakdowns, as heretofore constructed, have been provided with parallel, retractible side guides, for maintaining the bars in position on the conveyor chains traversing the tables, and also with retractible stops, usually in the form of fingers projecting up from the bottom of the table for positioning successive bars 35 at the proper distance apart for successive entry into the mill. These guides and stops are manually operated and considerable skill and dexterity are required of the operator to insure the proper operation at the exact instant in the course of travel of the bars along the table conveyor. Unless the stops are properly manipulated, the sheet bars, usually fed from the furnace in pairs, will be in contact with each other, instead of spaced apart in the desired relation for successive passes through the mills, especially if the two bars of a pair are discharged from the heating furnace fairly close together in which case it is difiicult or impossible to arrest one bar by a stop without also arresting the other bar. This means that it is necessary for the operator, after both the bars have finally been arrested by a single stop, to seize the rear bar with a pair of tongs and pull it back along the conveyor against the frictional force of the continuously moving chains thereof, to the proper position behind another stop, in order to space the second bar from the first bar. 1

After the bars have reached the feeding table and been properly spaced, they must be edgealined by the guides, if skewed, and then guided along the table into the mill. This problem is complicated by the inevitable slight differences in the lengths of the bars, since it is necessary to engage the ends of the bars continuously to effect a proper guiding action, and if one bar is longer than its neighbor, the former will be engaged too firmly and the latter not at all.

The fact that the operator is required to control both the stops and the guides further complicates matters, with the result that the rolling operation is slowed down considerably, and the bars permitted to cool excessively before entering the mill.

In accordance with my invention, I employ guides having their portions nearest the mill spaced a greater distance apart than the portions remote from the mill, instead of the uniformly spaced guides which have heretofore been employed. By this construction, I am able to obtain the proper spacing of a pair of sheet bars advancing toward the mill, without the use of stops, since the guides aforementioned make it possible to frictionally grip one bar at its ends while the other bar is free to advance toward the mill. The guides thus exert a decreasing side pressure on the bars, and the difference in bar lengths becomes relatively unimportant.

For a complete understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing illustrating a preferred embodiment. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view, largely diagrammatic, showing a tilting table arranged to feed heated sheet bars from the furnaceto a roughing mill;

Figure 2 is a side elevation;

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic plan view illustrating the operation of the invention; and

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3, showing a modification.

Referring in detail to the drawing, in a copending application, Serial No. 605,599, filed April 16, 1932, for Feeding and catching table, I, jointly with Raymond J. Wean, have disclosed and claimed a feeding table comprising a base H), a tilting frame ll pivoted thereto at I2 having conveyor chains l3 trained thereabout. Motors and driving mechanism l4 and I5 are provided for tilting the table, and a motor l6 for driving the conveyor chains l3. An auxiliary conveyor i1 Y The course of the material moving along the conveyor chains l3 toward the roughing mill, indicated at I8, is controlled by retractible side guides l9. While I have illustrated the invention as applied to a three high mill, it is equally applicable to two-high mills. As disclosed in the co-pending application, these guides are pivotally mounted on arms 20 which are swingably supported on the table frame at 2|. A pair of arms 20 is provided for each guide. The arms of each' pair have inward projections 22 connected by a link 23. The shifting mechanism of the two guides is cross connected by a link 24 so that equal and opposite movement will be imparted to the two guides respectively at all times. Handles permit manual operation of the guides.

In accordance with the present invention, instead of making the faces of the guides plane and parallel, I so form the faces that a greaterspace is provided between the guides adjacent the 25 mill end thereof than at the end remote from the mill. One way of producing this result is by machining or otherwise cutting away a portion of the guide faces, as indicated at l9 and I9; Guides of this shape provide a spacing between guides toward the mill end of the table which is greater than the spacing between the faces of the guides adjacent the end of the table remote from the mill. A similar result, of course, could be obtained otherwise, for example, by uniformly slop- 5 ing the guide faces so that the spacing between guides increases toward the mill end thereof.

The operation of the invention may best be explained by reference to Figure 3, showing diagrammatically certain elements of the table shown in Figures 1 and 2. Generally, the guides I9 will be retracted as the sheet bars are advanced in pairs from the furnace (not shown) across the conveyor l1 toward the table frame II. The spacing between the bars as they advance may .45 vary from little or nothing to a considerable distance,. depending upon the manner of charging and discharging the heating furnace. If it is assumed that the bars are separated by a space A, as shown in Figure 3 between the bars indi- I 5 cated at 26 and 21, it will be apparent that it is possible to arrest movement of the bars in such,

spaced relation by closing the guides thereon. Both bars are then gripped frictionally at their ends by the guides 19 and are maintained sta- 55 tionary in spaced relation, regardless of'the continued movement of the chains [3.

When the operator is ready to proceed with the rolling, he slightly spreads the guides is, whereupon the bars 26 and 21 immediately advance on so the conveyor chains, maintaining their previously spaced relation. When the bar 26 has reached the dotted line position 26', and the bar 2'I.-has reached the position initially occupied by the bar 26, the operator then closes the guides on tthe lat- 5 ter to restrain it further. Because of the greater spacing between the guides at the mill end thereof, the bar 26 is free of frictional engagement of the guides at its ends and therefore proceeds to move along the table with the conveyor chains.

70 When the bar 26 has reached a' position indicated in dotted lines at 26"; at which it is properly spaced from the bar 21 (now in the initial position of the bar 26 shown in solid lines), the operator again spreads the guides to release the 16 bar2'l. Thetwobarsthenmoveinunisontos ward and into the mill 16, being paced apart adistanceB. afterpassingthroughthemilh bars are raised on a catching table 2. suitable construction, and returned through or over the mill I8 to the table-ll. The rolling of the bars into breakdowns is effected in the known manner. The feeding of more than two bars, e. g., three or more bars, may be similarly controlled.

- In view of the fact that there may be slight differences between the lengths of successive sheet bars discharged from the furnace, it is necessary that the difference between the spacings of the guides at points adjacent the mill end and the opposite end be sufllcient to permit the guides to close upon the second of a pair of bars without engaging the first of the pain, In other words, the difference between the spacings between the guides at their opposite ends must be greater than the normal variation in the length of sheet bars.

If it should happen that the sheet bars are fed from the furnace practically in contact, the method previously described may be employed with equal success to obtain the proper spacing thereof before they move in unison toward the mill. The spacing of the bars when fed from the furnace may be greater than that shown, of course, in which case, a shorter .delay of the movement of the second bar will suflice to bring about the proper spacing thereof from the first It is not necessary, of course, that both the bars of a pair be stopped. It is entirely possible that the second bar may be delayed in reaching the table. If the operator is otherwise ready to proceed with the rolling, the first bar may be moved continuously along the table, if it is properly alined, and the second bar only stopped to provide the desired spacing between the two bars of the pair. I

In case of a slight difference inthe lengths of the two bars of a pair, the leading bar, if the shorter of the two, will continue to move even after the guides have engaged the longer bar. The proper spacing of the second bar may easily be obtained, however, in the manner just described. If the second bar of the pair is shorter, it will move into engagement with the first if the latter is arrested, and proper spacing .may be obtained in accordance with the operation first explained above.

Figure 4 illustrates a modified form of guides mentioned above, providing a uniformly tapering pass therebetween; In guides of this type, the increase in the width of the space between the guides should be about 3*!" per foot of length. Since the tables are usually about twelve feet long, the total difference approximates This figure may also be followed in designing guides of the type shown in Figures 1 and 3, and provides ample accommodation for any ordinary differences in the lengths of the bars.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the invention provides means for obtaining the proper spacing of the two bars of a pair advancing toward the roughing mill without the use of stops, as employed heretofore. The number of manual operations which the operator is required to make is thus reduced and his efliciency is generally improved, with a resulting increase in the production rate.- The operator may confine his attention to the guides -ing movable and shaped to provide a 1 between adjacent the mill end of edgewise entry into the mill, "but also for insuring the proper spacing thereof. If a mechanical stop is desired adjacent the millend of the table to prevent excessive spacing between the two successive barsv of a pair, it may be employed and provided with the usual manual operating mechanism. This necessitates, course, that the operator withdraw the stop when he spreads the guides for simultaneously moving the two bars of a pair toward and into the mill.

Although I have illustrated and described but one preferred embodiment and practice of the invention, it will be apparent that numerous changes therein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

, 1. The combination with a ieeding table for advancing heated material to a rolling mill, of guides extending along the table adjacent opposite edges, said guides being movable and arranged to provide a space therebetween of greater width at the mill end of the table than at the other in all positions.

2. In a feeding table for rolling mills, spaced side guides extending therealong, said guides bespace therethe table 01 greater width than the space between the guides at the other end of the table in all positions of the guides.

3. Guides for a rolling-mill feeding table comprising members extending therealong providing a free space th'erebetween, said members diverging outwardly toward the mill end of the table, when in position to guide material into the mill.

4. In a method of advancing material to a rolling mill, the steps including moving a plurality of pieces in succession toward the mill, stopping the pieces, releasing one piece for further movement, restraining another piece, until a predetermined spacing exists between pieces, and then releasingsaid other piece and moving said pieces simultaneously toward the mill.

5. In a method of advancing material to a rolling mill, the steps including moving a plurality of pieces in succession toward the mill, gripping said pieces adjacent their edges to edge alinethem and arrest said movement, releasing one piece and continuing its movement toward the mill, restraining another piece, and then releasing said last mentioned piece and moving it in unison with the aforementioned piece.

6. In a method of advancing material to a rolling mill, the steps including moving a plurality or pieces in succession toward the mill, stopping one piece at a distance from the mill by engaging its ,side edges while continuing to move another toward the mill until a predetermined spacing therebetween has been attained, and then moving the pieces in unison toward the mill.

'7.- In a method of advancing material to a rolling mill, the steps including moving a plurality of pieces in succession toward the mill, and exerting a progressively decreasing side pressure on the pieces as they move. p

8. Feeding-table guides for a rolling mill comprising a pair of spaced members extending lengthwise of the table toward the mill, said members being movable and having a wider space therebetween at the mill end than at'the other, when in position to guide material into the mill.

9. In a feeding table for a rolling mill, spaced movableside guides extending therealong,-said guides having portions providing spaces therebetween of different widths, the portions providing spaces of greater width being adjacent the mill end of the table when in position to guide material into the mill.

l ARCHIBALD D. EVANS. 

